Apparatus for processing coal



Dec. 22, 1942. I R ow: 2,305,966

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING COAL V Filed June 5, 1939 Patented Dec. 22,1942 APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING COAL Andrew F. Howe, University City, Mo.,assignor to B H & M Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation .of MissouriApplication June 5, 1939, Serial No. 277,428

7 4 Claims. (01. 233-21) This invention relates to apparatus forprocessing coal; and has special reference to an apparatus forreclaiming usable coal from sludge and from slurry that have heretoforeusually been discarded as waste materials, with consequent loss tooperators and dealers.

An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for processingwaste coal sludge and slurry in a manner to assort and separate into onemass the materials, including the usable coal, to be subsequentlyprocessed to remove and separate the usable coal from the wastematerials and finer particles that will remain suspended in water duringthe subsequent processing, and to provide means for satisfactorilyeffecting the final separation of the usable coal from the floatingwaste materials.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus includingmeans-for effectively and satisfactorily controlling the amount ofsludge and slurry passing from one part of the apparatus to another inorder to prevent the centrifuge device, included in the apparatus andwhich effects the final step in the separation process, from becomingoverloaded, and for delivering to said centrifuge device the properamount of materials to obtain best and most satisfactory results.

Another object of the invention is to provide a solution of the problemof separating and processing to a usable condition coal that hasheretofore been discarded as Waste material along with other wastematerials such as slate, earth, stone, and other non-combustibleelements.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention, which has beensatisfactorily used for the attainment of the desired effects andresults herein suggested or otherwise known, will be .made apparent fromthe following description,

reference being made to the annexed drawing, which is a side elevationwith some of the parts in section of one embodiment of the apparatus.

In the arrangement of the apparatus shown the coal sludge or slurry in ahighly fluent state is discharged from a conduit I onto the upper end ofan inclined vibratory screen 2 having a mesh of proper size for thepurposes desired. The size of the screen required to attain best resultsin different instances may be determined empirically so that most of thewater and usable coal will pass through the screen while the oversizesolid fragments are discharged from the screen into an inclined chute 3leading to a place of disposal. As stated, the screen 2 is vibrated usedfor such purposes.

on pivoted supports 4 which permit free vibratory movements thereof. onthe frame 5.

A tank 6 adapted to receive the sludge and slurry containing the usablecoal that pass through the screen 2 is supported by the frame 5 belowsaid screen and is open at the top. The bottom of the tank 6 is formedwith an outlet opening I controlled by a valve 8. The valve 8 isattached to a stem 9 mounted for vertical sliding movements in a guideI0 and having its lower end pivoted to an operating lever II operativelymounted on a support I2. A spring I3 may be connected with the guide I 0and the lever II between the stem 9 and the support I2 in order toactuate the lever I I in a direction to move the valve 8 to closedposition in the opening I.

A rotary shaft I4 extends transversely through the lower portion of thetank 6 above the bottom thereof and supports an eccentric I5 outside ofthe tank which is engaged by a ring formation I 5 on the upper end of alink I! having its lower end pivoted to the lever II. A clutch portionI8 on the eccentric I5 may be engaged and disengaged by a clutch I9splined for sliding movements on the shaft I4 into and out of clutchingengagement with the clutch portion I8 in order to rotate the eccentricI5 by the shaft I4 or leave the shaft I4 free to rotate without rotatingsaid eccentric, as desired. A lever 20 engages the clutch member I9 andis operative to move said clutch into and out of engagement with the Thesupports 4 are mounted clutch portion I8. When the clutch member I9 isin engagement with the clutch portion IS, the eccentric I5 operates thelink II and thereby the lever II to open and to close the valve 8intermittently during rotation of the shaft I4; and, when the clutch isdisengaged, the shaft I4 may continue to rotate without operating thevalve 8, leaving said valve entirely closed or entirely open, or in anintermediate position. The shaft I4 may be rotated continuously when theapparatus is in use by driving connections 2|. The shaft I4 extendsacros the inside of the tank 5 above the bottom thereof and above thevalve 8, and has a number of agitator arms 22 attached thereto so that,when the apparatus is in use and the shaft I4 is rotating, the sludge orslurry within the tank 6 is constantly agitated to maintain the entirecontents of the tank in a fluent state.

The contents of the tank 6 rises to the level when in use, and suchmovements may be im- 55 and a portion of the contents flows from thescreen 2 and to separate them from the remaining sludge and slurry whichpasses from. thetank 6 through the opening E into a tank 26. p w

The stem 9 extends through one'wallof the tank 26 and the valve 8operates "within the upper portion of said tank. The tank 26 constitutesa conduit device to receivethe sludge or slurry from the tank 6 and todischarge the same into the upper end of a centrifugal machine enclosedwithin a housing 21. One wall of the tank 26 may be formed with,louverdevices' 28 through which the sludge or. slurry passing throughthe tank 26 may be observed to determine the character and qualitythereof.-

The centrifugal machine enclosed. within. the housing 21 comprises arotaryginner, cone 29 rotated at high speed by driving connections 38the specific form of which constitutes no part of the invention claimed.herein. The conduit 3| opens from the bottom of the tank 26 and extendsdownwardly through the top of the centrifuge housing 27 and dischargesthe sludge or slurry onto the inner cone 29. A series of spiral flights32' are attached to the outer side of the cone 29 and are operatedtherebywitln'n the conical space 33 provided between the screen 34 andthe cone 29'and attached to the inner side of the. conical screen basket35 having numerous outlet slots 33 therein. The slots, 3'15 extendcircumferentially and are in staggered relationship so that a screenbasket is formed which supports the additional screen 36. The screenbasket 35 and the attached screen 33 are both rotated by the mechanism30 in a manner {and by devices not specifically shown. The centrifugalforce produced by the rapid rotation of the inner cone and the flights32 attached thereto elfects a separation of the usable coal from therefuse and most of the water because the refuse and most of the waterare discharged through the screen 34 and screen basket 35 into a space37 formed between said screen basket 35 and the centrifuge housing 27.The .usable coal is discharged downwardly from the space i 33 onto aconical apron .38 and thence into. a chute 39. The apron 38 is rotatedby the mechanism 30 and includes a number of flights 48 which sweep thecoal into the chute 39 from which the coal 4| is discharged onto anappro priate conveyor 32.

By this apparatus operated in this manner, the larger fragments of coaland waste material are first separated by the screen 2 from the usablecoal that may pass through said screen. The sludge or slurry dischargedthrough the screen 2 into the tank 6 may be constantly agitated by theagitator devices l4 and the suspended lighter particles caused to flowout through the conduit 24 while the usable coal having a maximu'insizepasses through the opening 1 into the conduit tank 26 and thence throughthe conduit 3i into the centrifugal machine. All of the operatingmechanisms may be operated from a single-source of power or not, asdesired. When once placed in operation, the apparatus will continue toop erate indefinitely and to discharge coal 4| satisfactorily processedand separated from refuse that had previously been considered anddiscarded as waste.

The water and suspended materials passing to the clarifier 25 areseparated so that the larger particles of suspended materialsaredischarged through an outlet 43 and the water through a conduit 44leading to a reclaimer tank (not shown) whereby the water may bereclaimed for repeated use.

By use of this apparatus, the force of gravityaffecting the finer meshimpurities that pass through the vibratory screen 2 is increased orstepped up several hundreds of times. These finer mesh impurities arethrown through the perforated'scr'een'34 and are discharged as wastewith the eiiluent through the outlet pipe 66 leading to the clarifiermechanism 25. A supply of fresh water may be admitted into the tank 6through a valve. controlled pipe 61, thereby replacing the efliuentthatpasses out through the outlet pipe 24. 1 The pipe 61 opens preferablyinto, the bottom. of the tank 6 so that the inflowing water, cooperateswith the agitator M to maintain the sludge and slurry in propercondition for further processing, and to prevent settling of the heavyparticles in the bottom of said tank 6. 1 p 1 This apparatus has beenused with a very big degree of satisfaction and has resulted in largesavings-of usable coal heretofore discarded and abandoned as waste. Theapparatus may be operated at relatively low cost to increaselargely thedesirable mine output. It should be apparent that the form andarrangement of the apparatus may be variedwidely within the scope ofequivalent limits without departure from the nature and principlethereof.

Iclaim: i

1 An apparatus for processing coal in a fluent sludge state comprising acentrifugal machine supported for rotation about a vertical axis, meansfor rotating said mechanism to separate the fluid andfloatable solidimpurities from the coal and discharging the coal substantially freefrom said fluid and impurities, means forming a conduit for conveyingthe fluent sludge to said machine, a valve, for regulating intermittentpassage of the fluent sludge through said conduit towardrsaid machine,an agitator for agitating the fluent sludge at the influent side of saidvalve, and mechanism for operating said agitator continuously andalsofo-r operating said valve intermittently to. .cause intermittentpassage of fluent sludge through said conduit during operation of saidagitator.

,2. An apparatus for processing and recovering usable coal from fluentsludge or slurry containing floatable solid. impurities, comprising acentrifugal machine supported for rotation about a vertical axis forreceiving and separatingthe fluid and floatable impurities from theusable coal-and discharging the coal substantially free from said fluidand impurities, connections for rotatingsaid machine, means forming'aconduit for conveying the sludgeor slurry to said machine, a valve forregulating the passage of sludge or slurry through said conduit towardsaid machine, an agitator at the influent side of said valve foragitating the fluent sludge or slurry and preventing settling of thefloatable impurities, mechanism for continuously operating said agitatorandalso opening and closing said valve inmachine supported for rotationabout a vertical axis for separating the fluid and fioatable impuritiesfrom the usable coal, walls forming a tank for receiving the fluentsludge or slurry containing the usable coal and the impurities to beseparated therefrom, mechanism for delivering into said tank the sludgeor slurry containing a mixture of bodies of usable coal of predeterminedmaximum size and impurities to be separated from the coal, means forminga conduit for conveying from said tank to said machine the sludge orslurry containing said impurities to be separated from the coal by saidmachine, a valve for regulating the passage of sludge or slurry fromsaid tank through said conduit toward said machine, mechanism foragitating the sludge or slurry in said tank and simultaneously openingand closing said valve intermittently, and a device for optionallycontrolling operation of said valve by said last named mechanism orleaving said last named mechanism free to operate While said valve remains unoperated, as desired.

4. An apparatus for processing and recovering usable coal from fluentsludge or slurry and fioatable impurities, comprising a centrifugalmachine supported for rotation about a vertical axis, connections foroperating said machine, means forming a conduit conveying the fluentsludge to said machine, a valve regulating the passage of sludge orslurry through said conduit toward said machine, an agitator at theinfiuent side of said valve for agitating the sludge or slurry, a pipefor discharging a stream of water into the sludge or slurry at theinfluent side of said valve, mechanism for continuously operating saidagitator and intermittently opening said valve, and means controllingoperation of said valve by said last named mechanism.

ANDREW F. HOWE.

